President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga met today at the UN Headquarters with the President of the Republic of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer.
President Jahjaga expressed her gratitude to President Fischer for the support that Austria has been providing to Kosovo in all the relevant fields and for the strong support for the consolidation of Kosovo’s statehood. She said that Kosovo has undertaken important steps with the ending of the supervision of its independence and appreciated the role that Austria plays as a constituent member of the military and civil missions in our country.
President Jahjaga stated that Kosovo has taken the responsibilities upon itself and said that the cooperation with the international community will be strengthened and expanded.
Speaking regarding the Kosovo’s endeavours to integrate in Euro-Atlantic structures, President Jahjaga said that Feasibility study and the visa liberalisation roadmap open a new chapter in relations with EU and that Austria’s help and support is essential in order to successfully conclude these two processes.
President Jahjaga also said that Kosovo is contributing towards peace and stability in the region and is developing good neighbourly relations with all the countries in the region. Republic of Kosovo is interested to develop with the Republic of Serbia as well, but the Serbia must show its readiness to accept the reality of the independent Kosovo.
President Jahjaga said that the dialogue with Serbia that took place in Brussels and was facilitated by EU has resulted in reaching of agreements, but those agreements must be implemented by Serbia in order to enable the initiation of the next stage of the dialogue for the issues of mutual interest.
In relation to the situation in the three northern municipalities of Republic of Kosovo, President Jahjaga said that Serbia must cease to support the illegal and criminal structures that are holding hostage the future of the ethnic Serbian citizens of the Republic of Kosovo and is hampering the development of this part of Kosovo.
President of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fisher, appreciated the achievements of Kosovo in the recent period and said that the cooperation between Austria and Kosovo must be expanded and stated that the Government of Austria is engaged in assisting Kosovo in its path towards Euro-Atlantic integrations, in strengthening of its democratic institutions and rule of law. He also said that all international agreements, and in particular the Ahtisaari Plan, must be acted upon and fully implemented.
President Fischer said that the future of Kosovo and the whole of the Balkan region is in EU and that Austria is dedicated to support the region in this endeavour.